In an industrial plant, there are many systems which are configured to monitor or control field devices and equipment. The systems are configured to communicate with the field devices through input-output (IO) units. An IO unit is configured to communicate with a plurality of field devices and systems in the plant. The IO unit is connected directly to the field devices and connected to a bus for communication with the plant systems.
Commissioning is a process for testing an equipment, facility, or plant to verify if it functions according to its design objectives or specifications. During commissioning of a typical plant which has multiple field devices, for example, thousands of field devices, it is a tedious series of manual operations to check if each field device is installed correctly and if each IO unit is configured correctly. Each of the field device and the IO unit has multiple configuration parameters. The installation checking process is to check if the correct field device is installed at the physical location and its connection position to the IO unit. Usually, a plurality of field devices are connected to one IO unit, where one field device is connected to one channel on the IO unit. The configuration of the IO unit is checked to determine that the channels are configured correctly.
Other methods to check the IO unit and field devices are using a control system or plant management system when the system is connected to the same bus as the IO unit. The check cannot be done before the installation of at least one of the control system or plant management system in the plant is completed. It is inconvenient to correct the configuration parameters when the IO unit and field devices are determined to be inconsistent with the design objectives.
There is a need for an improved system and method for performing commissioning of a plant.